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How much can I afford?

The first step in buying a house is determining your budget. This calculator steps you through the process of finding out how much you can afford to borrow. Fill in the entry fields and click on the payment schedule button to see a complete amortization schedule of your mortgage payments.


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This calculator is for informational and general illustrative purposes only and may be based on assumptions, dates and projections that may not be correct or applicable.

Definitions
Annual income Your gross annual income. For joint owners this is your total combined gross annual income.
Purchase price The price of the home you wish to purchase. This is the actual price you pay, not including any closing costs.
Total monthly payment
Total monthly payment that you can afford. This is the total of principal, interest, taxes and heat paid each month.
Cash on hand Cash you have for the down payment and all closing costs.
Interest rate
The current interest rate you can receive on your mortgage.
Amortization in years The number of years over which you will repay this mortgage.
Annual property taxes The annual property tax paid on the home you are purchasing.
Monthly
car payment(s)
Total monthly payment for your car loan(s).
Credit card payments Total monthly minimum payments for your credit cards.
Other loan payments Any other installment loan payments, such as student loans or unsecured loans.
Total closing costs Total up front costs to close your loan. This is the total of your CMHC premium, transfer tax, GST and other closing costs.
Other closing costs Estimate of all other closing costs for this loan. This should include filing fees, appraiser fees and any other misc. fees paid.
CMHC Premium Mortgage insurance is paid to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This includes all loans secured with less than 25% down and depending on your financial institution, with a downpayment equal to or greater than 25 % of the purchase price. This calculator assumes that financial institutions will not charge any CMHC premium if you have a downpayment equal to at least 25% of the purchase price. This calculator assumes that your CMHC premium can be financed and included in the mortgage, which can reduce the amount of funds required to purchase a home. The CMHC premium is calculated as:

CMHC Insurance Premium Rates:
Mortgage Amount
as a % of property value
Premium
as a % of the mortgage amount
Up to and including 65%
(35% or greater down payment)
0.50%
Up to and including 75%
(25% to 34.99% down payment)
0.65%
Up to and including 80%
(20% to 24.99% down payment)
1.00%
Up to and including 85%
(15% to 19.99% down payment)
1.75%
Up to and including 90%
(10% to 14.99% down payment)
2.00%
Up to and including 95%
(5% to 9.99% down payment)
3.25%
GDSR: Gross Debt Service Ratio Compares the total cost of your monthly mortgage payment, taxes and heating to your gross monthly (pre-tax) income from all sources. The general rule is that these monthly payments should not exceed 32% of your gross income.
TDSR: Total Debt Service Ratio Examines the relationship between all monthly debts (i.e. mortgage payments, property taxes, cars, credit cards, other loans and obligations, etc.) and your gross monthly income. The general rule is that these total monthly payments should not exceed 40% of your income.
Amount Shown as "Total monthly payment." This is the total amount you can afford per month. This amount is the total of "Principal, Interest, Tax and Heat" for your home.